State climber scales Everest, the first woman from State to do so... N Bidyapati scripts history from atop the world
IMPHAL, May 17: A lady climber from the State, Ningthoujam Bidyapati Devi is among the three members of the 1st NE India Mt Everest expedition team to scale the World’s highest peak, Mt Everest today thus registering the entry of the region’s climber.....
Degree In Academics Not The Only Route To Success In Life 67 year old MM Sharma shows the way
IMPHAL, May 17: Degrees or diplomas are not the only inevitabilities for an individual like 67-year old Manoharmayum Manihar Sharma but resilience, ingenuity and a little cerebral exercise can be the mantra for success in life. A resident of Nongmeibun.....
HSSLC, HSLC exams results by May 22 and 25, says Oken
IMPHAL, May 17: While announcing that results of the class 12 and 10 examinations would be declared on May 22 and 25 respectively Education Minister M Okendro has appealed to college students not to boycott the upcoming semester examinations. speaking .....
KSO calls strike on May 21
IMPHAL, May 17 : The Kuki Students Organisation, General Headquarters (KSO-GHQ) has announced a 24-hour bandh on May 21 in protest against the State Government’s alleged non-implementation of reservation in certain areas. The KSO said it had apprised.....
Traffic police beat up man
IMPHAL, May 17: Traffic police personnel severely beat up a man near the gate of Churachandpur police station at around 4 pm today. The victim, Kumam Rajbala (43) s/o Sanal of Moirang Turenban, while narrating his ordeal to reporters here said that he .....
AHRC appeals UN Special Rapporteur
IMPHAL, May 17: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has appealed the UN Special Rapporteur to press the Manipur authorities for conducting thorough and independent investigation in connection with the alleged arrest of two human rights defenders on .....
Semester exams to continue as usual
IMPHAL, May 17: As agreed between Education Minister M Okendro and representatives of the Coordination Committee of College Students’ Unions, semester exams for BA, BSc, BCom will be held as usual. Notably, the committee has been demanding translatio.....
Twin Pallel drug seizure cases One given bail, others sent to further remand
IMPHAL, May 17: Even as 12 police men held with illegal drugs worth Rs 3.50 crores have been sent to prison, Lalminsanga, one of the accused in the same drug smuggling case has been released on bail. Meanwhile, seven other individuals including an army.....
MSCW team puts heat on Nekhohat murder case
IMPHAL, May 17: A team of Manipur State Commission for Women (MSCW) led by its chairperson Dr L Ibetombi conducted an investigation into the murder case of Nekhohat Kilong yesterday. The team went to late Nekhohat Kilong’s home at Moreh Ward No 9 an.....
Hate-leaflet concerns MP
IMPHAL, May 17: Taking serious note of putting up wall posters and circulating quit notices against a community staying in churachandpur district, Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency MP Thangso Baite opined that failure to identify or pull up the cul.....
Lallumba group seeks separate accommodation
IMPHAL, May 17: KCP-MC Lallumba group which has entered into a process of dialogue with the Government of India and Government of Manipur has demanded a separate place of accommodation outside 7th MR complex where its cadres are presented housed. Spea.....
Mahasen spares Mizoram
Aizawl, May 17: There is a sigh of relief in Mizoram as the cyclone Mahasen, feared to hit the state last night, lost its speed before reaching the region. This was informed by state Science and Technology Department Chief Scientific Officer Vanlalzara.....
Myanmar nationals held
IMPHAL, May 17: Twenty Myanmarese nationals including two women, who were caught by Manipur Police for violating the immigration laws of the country, were produced before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thoubal district of Manipur on Friday. Th.....
Corrigendum
Apropos to the news report appeared on the front page of May 17 issue of this daily under the caption, ‘Ukl takes up precautions’, ‘Mahasen Volcano’ must be read as ‘Mahasen Cyclone’. The oversight is deeply regretted. —Editor.....
Deer rescued, freed
IMPHAL, May 17: PFA Thoubal freed an injured Barking Deer yesterday after administering first aid to the deer. A statement issued by the PFA said that the PFA was contacted by one Athokpam Subhaschandra Singh of Moirang Kampu informing that he found a .....
Four die in mishaps
IMPHAL, May 17: At least three persons including a police commando and a nurse have been killed while four others sustained injuries in separate road mishaps during the last 48 hours A nurse riding a scooter was killed when she was knocked down by a t.....
MU students
IMPHAL, May 17: A meeting of Manipur University students held today has resolved to constitute Manipur University Students' Union Revival Demand Committee along and submit a memorandum to MU authorities for necessary action to revive the union within July.....
Joy alleges
IMPHAL, May 17: MPP advisor O Joy has stated that some Opposition parties have been playing spoilsport with regard to the collective effort of Opposition parties to field a common candidate in the next Parliamentary election. Reacting to the statemen.....
NPF campaign
IMPHAL, May 17: The political awareness campaign of the Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF), Manipur State at Senapati district headquarters on Friday was marked with the party leaders coming down heavily on the Congress Government for all the ails in the state. .....
Prithviraj congratulates Bidyapati
NEW DELHI, May 17: Tourism and YAS Parliamentary Secretary Mairembam Prithviraj has congratulated Ningthoujam Bidyapati to get to the top of the world’s highest mountain today. In a congratulatory message, M Prithviraj said, “I am very happy to.....
Editorials
The Editor Speaks
Sewerage Project : Imphal's sorrow Cocktail of inflated egos and apathy
Lack of expertise, indifference and an inflated ego can make a lethal cocktail. This obviously is the case with the Imphal Sewerage Project, which was taken up amid much hype and gusto with the foundation stone laid in 2001 by the then Governor Ved Marwah. Actual work at the ground started a few years later and in a period spanning 8 or 9 years, this project has come to underline the understanding of throwing people into a cesspool of woes and inconveniences. Dig, cover up, black top and then again dig, all at the same spot, is what the Imphal Sewerage Project has been reduced to and there is nothing to gloss over this. The sting in the term ‘lack of co-ordination amongst the different arms of the Government’ has lost its potency, if not for anything, then for its sheer over dose here. A trend it has become for projects to overshoot the deadlines numerous times and apart from the multiplying effects on the cost and the inconveniences of the people, it is also reflective of how the Government and its different agencies work. A case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Common sense obviously is the most uncommon sense amongst the suited, booted Babudom and their political masters. A project as big and as ambitious as the Imphal Sewerage Project calls for a close co-ordination amongst the different agencies of the Government and this include not only the Engineering Departments but also others. Digging up portions of roads on a busy route calls for a close co-ordination between the work agency concerned and other departments such as the Transport Department and the Traffic police. Not rocket science technology but just that teeny weeny bit of applying one's mind to the work at hand.
A case of lack of expertise, indifference and inflated egos clouding the judgement of the officials and departments concerned. January next year is the month given to fill up the dug out portion to the south of Raj Bhavan. High water level is the case cited for the failure to complete the process of pipe laying and filling up the dug out portion on this extremely busy route and the inept handling of the project cannot get clearer than this. An irony it is that a project which was taken up to address the question of the sewage system in Imphal has literally turned huge swathes of land at places like Lamphel into an open sewage. Engineers from the Public Health Engineering Department were indeed sent to France to receive technical knowledge concerning the said project but there is nothing to show that anything substantive have been learnt. Wasting public money, nothing less. A mega project necessarily calls for mega planning. Perhaps it is the process known as awarding contract works, shortlisting suppliers and floating tenders that has blinded the Babudom and the political class to overlook the planning part. Otherwise how does one explain the irritatingly long time it has taken for the project to see the light of the day and the severe inconveniences that the people have had to put up with all these years. Development has a price tag, no doubt about it. But when the price is hiked due to the sheer apathy and indifference of the people concerned then it is time to call a spade a spade.
